|
|
HOT NEW REVIEWS
HOWLIN’
SUN ‘MAXIME’ (APOLLON RECORDS/PLASTIC HEAD DISTRIBUTION/CREATIVE ECLIPSE
PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Bergen,
Norway comes the heavy blues/southern rockband HOWLIN’ SUN. Maxime is the 2nd
album of this band which is formed around Tor-Erik Bjelde (vocals, guitar),
Magnus Gullachsen (guitar), Pieter Ten Napel (bass) and Torgrim Nåmdal (drums),
and this new album was recorded live to tape in an old sardine packaging plant
by the sea side in Bergen, Norway. Although the start is a bit raw, things get
better and better throughout the album during lovely songs such as Let’s Go
Steady, Jayne and Be Mine. The music is a mix of blues, southern rock, soul,
classic rock and fuzzy garage rock, kinda like we know it from Dutch bands like
VOLTAGE, DE WOLFF, LEIF DE LEEUW BAND (or of course THE BLACK CROWES when we
speak on international terms), etc. , sometimes uptempo and groovy, raw and
rocking, while at other times finding a healthy calmer mix of southern
americana and bluesy soul (Jayne). Well done for sure and nice to check out if
you’re a fan of any of the aforementioned bands. More info at: https://howlinsun.bandcamp.com/album/howlin-sun
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
HEX
A.D. ‘DELIGHTED SHARP EDGES’ (APOLLON RECORDS/PLASTIC HEAD
DISTRIBUTION/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
Delightful
Sharp Edges is the 6th album of the Norwegian band HEX A.D., but their first on
APOLLON RECORDS. Their music is a strong mix of 70s classic progrock, stoner
rock and doom metal (light), with a focus on beautiful haunting memorable
melodies, especially in the guitar department. The band is formed around Rick
Hagan (guitars, vocals, drums, bass, mellotron), Mags Johansen (keyboards,
Hammond organ, mellotron), Are Gogstad (bass) and Matt Hagan (drums), and the
sound of this new album is quite impressive, epic and bombastic with a sorta
metal approach, although on this new album they are also influenced by 70s acts
like THIN LIZZY and WISHBONE ASH. OPETH is a good comparison and sometimes they
remind me of SAVATAGE a little bit, although HEX A.D. has an own identity by
now. The guys absolutely deliver here, and the album is very diverse, because
calmer parts are followed up by heavier material. Especially part 2 of the epic
journey called Radio Terror is a lovely uptempo piece that shows HEX A.D. at
their very best, but also the midtempo stoner rock/doom metal of the smokin’
hot part 2: Throwing Down The Gauntlet needs to be mentioned! As you will
notice this is a concept album, so each and every song is connected with each
other, and fans of prog, doom and stoner rock will definitely like this record
a lot! More at: https://hexad.bandcamp.com/album/delightful-sharp-edges
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
CANTO
DO SOL ‘AVANT L‘EQUINOXE’ (JABOTICABA/INOUIE DISTRIBUTION/VEEV.COM/FRANCE
IMPORT)
The French band
CANTO DO SOL was formed during the lock-down, which was thanks to the social
networks that brought the musicians together. Avant L’Equinoxe is the resulting
first album that was recorded in Paris during late 2022 and early 2023. The
band is formed around SOPHIE MAGNANI (vocals, guitar), HERVE MORISOT (guitar,
mandolin, piano), FILIPE DOURADO (Cavaquinho = Portuguese guitar like an
ukele/banjo guitar mixture) and percussionist WENDELL ALMEIDA. Right from the
start with songs like A Contretemps and Gabi, it is clear that we are listening
to a high quality cheerful, fun, summer-ready sunshine band that gives out a
lot of positive energy, cool rhythms and a really nice vibe that will please
everyone outside enjoying the summer sun. Sophie is a strong singer and the
music swings from start to finish, with a sorta mixture of French chanson, Brazilian
samba - bossa - ijéxá - xote - arrasta pé, World Music and a touch of Cuban
jazz. It’s all perfectly blended into an exciting fun sound that will please a
lot of people I think. You can hear it for yourself at: www.cantodosol.carbonmade.com
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
ANTHROPOLOGY
BAND ‘LIVE 2022’ (DISCUS MUSIC/NO MAN’S LAND/GERMAN IMPORT)
MILES DAVIS is
mentioned as starting point for the 3-CD set of a live performance the
ANTHROPOLOGY BAND gave at the Newcastle Festival Of Jazz and Improvised Music
and at a café in London in 2022. The 8-piece band consists of Martin Archer
(saxophones, electronics, composer), Charlotte Keeffe (trumpet, flugelhorn,
arranger), Chris Sharkey (guitar, electronics), Pat Thomas (keyboards,
electronics), Orphy Robinson (xylosynth), Dave Sturt (bass guitar), Anton
Hunter (guitar, electronics) and Adam Fairclough (drums). Together they were at
high speed level those 2 nights that have been perfectly recorded and now
released on CD. It is a very interesting mixture and improvisation of all kinds
of directions, jazz, freestyle-jazz, fusion jazz and complex progressive rock,
but it actually goes even further than that. SNARKY PUPPY is being praised for
doing a similar thing, but once you hear ANTHROPOLOGY BAND, then you will be
even more impressed, because these guys stretch things much further, which is
partly thanks to the amazing MARTIN ARCHER, the leader and founder of the band
and their label DISCUS MUSIC. Make sure not to miss this exciting instrumental
triple CD set that takes you straight back to the actual performances of the
band in 2022. More info at: discusmusic.bandcamp.com
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
RON
CAINES/MARTIN ARCHER AXIS ‘BLUTOPIA’ (DISCUS MUSIC/NO MAN’S LAND/GERMAN IMPORT)
MARTIN ARCHER
is an extremely busy bee, because besides running his label DISCUS MUSIC, he
also produces and plays on most releases. Here he is playing the sopranino and
baritone sax, clarinet and flute on the album of RON CAINES, and in addition he
invited his band AXIS that consists of 6 more musicians to play along and give
it a real British Jazz approach. Improvised freestyle jazz is definitely the
way to go here from scratch to finish. 17 songs in total, with a clear focus on
the sax, because Ron himself also plays soprano, alto & tenor saxophones.
Sometimes quite experimental and improvised most of the time, this CD is
clearly recommended to the open-mind jazzfans out there. More info at: www.discus-music.co.uk
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
DAS
RAD ‘VEER’ (DISCUS MUSIC/NO MAN’S LAND/GERMAN IMPORT)
Veer is the 4th
album of the Sheffield, UK based band DAS RAD, and on this new album they
welcome new bassist JON SHORT to their line-up that further consists of MARTIN
ARCHER (sax, woodwind, keys), STEVE DINSDALE (drums, keys), NICK ROBERTSON
(guitar, keys, loops) and as guest on 1 song PETER ROPHONE (vocals). The band’s
music is instrumental 70s progressive rock orientated, so this is Martin’s
proggy adventure for sure, although you can also smell the 70s jazz and even
some alternative rock influences here and there. Opener Lutraphobia is a real
straight-ahead uptempo rocking tune that is perhaps the rockiest song ever
released on DISCUS MUSIC. Great start and straight until the end this is an
exciting progressive rock dominated album that has an own identity for sure.
The guitarwork is upfront, but the sax of Martin is also present quite often,
just to give it his freestyle-jazz touch. This is really a great album, and for
more info you can go to: https://dasrad.uk
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
STEVE MEDNICK ‘1952’
(A COTTAGE SOUND RECORDING/HEMIFRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
American singer/songwriter STEVE MEDNICK (also plays
guitar, piano, organ) returns with another nice folky singer-songwriter
pop/rock album in the style of good old BOB DYLAN and a bit of RANDY NEWMAN,
NEIL YOUNG and such, especially due to Steve’s raspy raw voice. Story-telling
songs is the name of the game here, with a little help of KARL ALLWEIER
(guitar, bass, vocals), BRETT CALABRESE (guitar), ISAAC CIVITELLO (drums, keys,
guitar) and a few more guests, this is a nice album to listen to and with a
total of 20 songs there is a lot to enjoy here. The music is also very diverse,
because a song like Distant Sorrows has a really nice relaxing westcoast ish
vibe with also a beautiful guitarsolo, while here and there we go into pure
folk approach, but overall this is singer-songwriter orientated with a slight
rocky edge. After All These Years sums it all up in 1 song, so make sure to
start with this one when checking out Steve at: https://www.stevemednick.com/
(Points: 7.5 out of
10)
JAIME MICHAELS ‘HOW TO
SHINE’ (APPALOOSA RECORDS/HEMIFRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
JAIME MICHAELS is a Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA based
singer/songwriter and How To Shine is his 12th solo album so
far. Musically speaking this is once again beautiful calmer singer-songwriter
music in the Americana/Folk tradition of mainly PAUL SIMON, especially hearable
during a song like Angelus, while of course SIMON & GARFUNKEL also comes to
mind when listening to Beauty Doesn’t Need Forever. 11 songs are included in
total on his new CD, and it varies from calmer to more uptempo orientated
tunes, and it is all done very nicely, especially thanks to Michael’s relaxing
way of singing and playing the guitar. More info can be found at: https://www.jaimemichaels.com/how-to-shine
(Points: 7.8 out of
10)
GREGORY PAGE ’MODERN
MAN’ (SIAMSA GAEL MUSIC/HEMIFRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
The English singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer
GREGORY PAGE has released a lot of music since the early 90s, so meanwhile he
has built up quite a reputation, also via touring, and his new album Modern Man
shows a nice modern ish approach to his familiar singer/songwriter folky
Americana material on his previous albums. You can already see that when
looking at the retro early 80s looking album cover, and with the help of the
legendary JASON MRAZ on synths, this new album has a clear late 70s/early 80s
somewhat quirky pop/rock touch, especially during lovely uptempo pieces such as
F The Future and Modern Man. Gregory has a lovely charismatic voice and the
songs all have catchy memorable melodies that somehow capture an own identity,
because it’s hard to compare his material other than GREGORY PAGE himself. One
of the absolute highlights is the beautiful shuffle A Modern Love Story, which
has a sorta melancholic almost jazzy kinda feeling. Fans of Steve will easily
find their way to this new album, more info at: https://www.gregorypage.com/modern-man
(Points: 8.2 out of
10)
LOVE ON DRUGS ‘FLUKE’
(PARAPLY RECORDS/HEMIFRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
The Swedish musician/singer/songwriter THOMAS PONTEN
is the leader of the band LOVE ON DRUGS, and their new album Fluke is a nice
diverse record that opens with Through The Dark, which is a great catchy
uptempo modern British melodic powerpop/rocker that is not too far away from
bands like INHALER, WHITE LIES, THE KILLERS and also a bit of THE WAR ON DRUGS.
It’s a rather catchy tune with a lovely soaring guitarsolo besides a catchy
chorus, and it could easily become a huge radiohit this summer! As we travel
further through the album, it marks a lot of other music influences as well,
even some beautiful Americana during Where The Water Flows, Indie pop a la
BEAR’S DEN on a lot of songs and how about some 70s British Pop a la AL STEWART
or even ELTON JOHN on a song like Tears Must Fall. It’s all done very well and
concluded you might easily say that this is a rather catchy little album, and
for more info please go to: https://loveondrugs.bandcamp.com/
(Points: 8.0 out of
10)
THE SUN OR THE MOON
‘ANDROMEDA’ (TONZONEN RECORDS/SOULFOOD MUSIC/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
Andromeda is the 2nd album of the
German band THE SUN OF THE MOON. They were formed in the summer of 2019 in the
city of Mainz by 4 musicians whom share a love to explore the prog, psychedelic
and krautrock sounds of the 1970s and give it an own modern approach throughout
their band’s recordings. The line up consists of FRANK INCENCE (vocals, bass,
guitar, synthesizer), MARKUS WEBER (guitar), SUSANNE SCHNEIDER (piano, keys)
and NICLAS CIRCIACY (drums, percussion), and I have to say that Andromeda is an
incredible record that truly is a fantastic modern take on the sounds of
classic 70s prog/kraut/psychedelic rockbands such as CAN, TANGERINE DREAM,
HAWKWIND, AMON DUUL, KRAFTWERK, PINK FLOYD, etc. etc. On the other hand there is
the link to the modern prog of PORCUPINE TREE as well. 8 songs are included,
some are quite lengthy, and each song has a lot for you to discover, because
within the prog/krautrocksound of THE SUN OR THE MOON there are influences of
other music genres as well, such as jazz-fusion, new wave, trip-hop, techno,
gothic, industrial (best hearable during the KRAFTWERK meets RAMMSTEIN lightish
Psychedelic Kosmonait), so all together this is a great adventure anyone with
an open-minded music heart would love to experience. Personal favorite songs
are such classic 70s psych krautrock trips like Operation Mindfuck and the Art
Of Microdoging that take you straight back to the days of bands like CAN,
GROBSCHNITT, KRAAN, SWEET SMOKE, LA DUSSELDORF, etc.etc. Without a doubt, a
lovely high quality record and for more info please go to: https://thesunorthemoon.com
(Points: 8.6 out of
10)
THE UPLAND BAND
‘LIVING IN PARADISE’ (KAPITAN PLATTE/SONIC RENDEZVOUS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE
PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
THE UPLOAD BAND is a German one man band consisting of
MICHAEL BECKETT, who did everything on his own on the first album Living In
Paradise. Musically speaking we drift into a guitar indie-pop orientated
direction that reminds me of acts like WILCO, YO LA TENGO, BEAR’S DEN and such.
There’s a clear dreampop touch as well and Michael’s way of singing is typical
indie orientated, sorta like BECK. The songs are uplifting and feature some
very nice melodies in a light psychedelic direction (highlight is
ohfivetwosixfive). Nice album for sure and more info can be found at: https://kapitaenplatte.bandcamp.com/album/living-in-paradise
(Points: 7.8 out of
10)
LAST GIANT ‘MONUMENTS’
(LOABO RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Here we have a sensational new classic rockband from
Portland, Oregon, USA called LAST GIANT. Although Monuments is already their 4th album
so far, I have not seen much about them so far. The band is actually formed
around one man, RFK Heise, who plays guitar, keys and sings, and other
musicians joining him are Drummer Matt Wiles and Bassist Palmer Cloud. The
songs truly rock and have a sorta 70s/80s nostalgic approach due to the cool
guitar riffs (just listen to the 80s rock riff of Hell On Burnside) and also
overall it is a mixture of 80s glamrock, 70s classic rock and a piece of punky
hairy metal! Imagine a mix between BILLY IDOL, OZZY, MOTLEY CRUE and DURAN
DURAN if that make sense it all, then you might have the sound of LAST GIANT,
especially during catchy uptempo rockers like Hell On Burnside, In Make Up and
the superb Soldiers (even THE CULTish). Without a doubt, this is a great cool
band that definitely needs more attention, and hopefully they will receive more
press with this new album Monuments. More info at: https://lastgiant.bandcamp.com/album/monuments
(Points: 8.7 out of
10)
THE
ORION EXPERIENCE ‘COSMICOVERS’ (SWEET! RECORDS/ITS ALIVE MEDIA/USA IMPORT)
I was
absolutely not familiar with THE ORION EXPERIENCE from New York City, but
apparently this band had a surprise hit "The Cult of
Dionysus" on social media in 2020, which resulted in 150 million streams
on Spotify, 53.4 million views on Youtube and 8.36 million streams on Apple
Music. Anyway, their fifth album Cosmicovers will be released on May 19 via
Sweet! Records, and this is a collection of covers of well-known classics and
songs by modern artists/acts, including amongst others DAVID BOWIE’s
"Starman”, LINDA RONDSTADT’s "Different Drum," CAVETOWN’s
"Lemon Boy", STUDIO KILLERS' "Jenny" and OLIVIA
NEWTON-JOHN’s "Hopelessly Devoted to You". I am not sure what the
line-up is of the band, because the bio only mentions guitarist REEF ROXX and
lead singers ORION SIMPRINI and LINDA XO, but I have to admit that the material
they bring on this new CD is irresistible and catchy, sorta giving the songs a
sweet classic 70s melodic powerpop/poprock meets disco approach, like ABBA
meets 70s HEART and a bit of ROXETTE, yet with a modern touch. I think some of
these songs, especially Hopelessly Devoted to You and Moving will be instant
hits on any dancefloor or festival. The songs do have an own identity, despite
these are all covers, THE ORION EXPERIENCE do have an own sound that is very
catchy and well-done from start to finish on this new CD. This CD caught me by
surprise and I think everyone will have a smile on their faces when hearing
such catchy anthems. If it’s done as good as on this CD, then you simply got to
love it for sure! Check it out for yourself at: https://theorionexperience.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
NALANI
ROTHROCK 'THE ROCK HOUSE SESSIONS (EXTENDED CUT/USA IMPORT)
The
Rock House Sessions is the debut album of the Nashville based singer/songwriter
NALANI ROTHROCK, who is helped by Joshua Lamkin – guitar, Steve Mackey – bass,
Lynn Williams – drums, Kenneth Blevins – drums, Bryan Brock – percussion,
Andrew Carney – trumpet, Nicole Boggs - background vocals, Jonell Mosser -
background vocals and Jackie Wilson - background vocals on this first CD. Her
music is a mix of rootsy bluesy rock and a lot of soul thanks to the fantastic
emotional soulful vocals of Nalani. Comparisons to BETH HART, JOSS STONE,
BONNIE RAITT, the late TINA TURNER, ANA POPOVIC and such powerful female
singers is quite clear, and Nalani is definitely a singer to keep your eyes
open for in the future, because she might become the next big thing. The
material is very diverse, because there’s calmer soulful material, such as Fool
For You and Hold On, and also uptempo rock stuff like Hold On. The album was
produced, recorded and mixed by multi-grammy winner KEVIN MCKENDREE (BUDDY GUY,
GEORGE BENSON, LITTLE RICHARD…), and from start to finish this is a highly
recommended soulful bluesy rock record that is a must if you’re a fan of the
aforementioned acts. More info can be found at: https://nalanirothrock.bandcamp.com/album/the-rock-house-sessions-extended-cut and http://www.nalaniofficial.com/
macradiopromo@gmail.com; jolanimusicgroup@gmail.com
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
WHITNEY
PARNELL ‘WHAT WILL YOU DO? SONGS OF SOCIAL AWARENESS’ (OPUS ONE STUDIOS/USA
IMPORT)
What
Will You Do?, Songs of Social Awareness is the debut album of the American
singer/songwriter WHITNEY PARNELL. Whitney is a black millennial activist,
singer, and social entrepreneur who grew up "around the world" as a
Foreign Service child, and, after graduating college, she committed her life's
work to social justice, and now she releases her first CD that consists of 9
self-written songs. The musicians on her debut CD are Joshua Davies (piano),
Jerome Taylor (drums) and Alex Bizzarro (guitar), and the CD starts rather calm
with a singer-songwriter introduction where Whitney speaks, but on the
following song My Life we get to hear a great midtempo melodic modern rocker
with strong soulful vocals. The rest of the album is a mixture of different
styles and usually calmer and less rocking, even a bit like WHITNEY HOUSTON 80s
influenced pop here and there, and I have to admit that it isn’t bad at all,
because it is also quite soulful, yet hopefully she will record some more
rockier material next time, because that aforementioned rocking song My Life
does reflect a YOLA kinda direction which is really good, so there’s definitely
potential here. More info can be found at: www.opusonestudios.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ELOY 'ECHOES FROM THE
PAST VINYL RECORD' (DRAKKAR ENTERTAINMENT/SOULFOOD)
Echoes From The
Past is the 3rd album of the trilogy around
JEANNE D'ARC, and it marks the 21st studio album overall of the legendary band
ELOY. The only original member of the year 1969 when this German band was
founded is guitarist/vocalist FRANK BORNEMANN. The band has had a lot of line
up changes throughout their 54 year career, but thankfully the music has always
been at a very high symphonic/progressive rock level. I received a beautiful gatefolded
blue vinyl copy of their new album, and just like all their previous albums,
also Echoes From The Past is a really great perfect 70s orientated
symphonic/progressive rockalbum with all the aspects of the band's past sounds.
There is a lot of information and lyrics are included as well in the gatefolded
inner sleeve of the album cover, and highlights on this new album are the
titletrack Echoes From The Past, the strong Warning Signs, and Fate, but also
the final 2 lengthy songs show that especially during the instrumental passages
ELOY is one of the true pioneers of German progrock. This might well be the
very last ELOY album, so better make sure to check it out at: http://www.eloy-legacy.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
DOUG DEMING & THE
JEWEL TONES 'GROOVIN' AT THE GROOVE NOW - LIVE IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND' (ENDLESS
BLUES RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Recorded live
Sept. 2021 at Atlantis, Basel in Basel, Switzerland, the American guitarist DOUG DEMING and his JEWEL TONES did a marvelous performance 2 years ago, and
this live gig has now been released on CD. They have already released about 5
albums since the early 2000s, so they have a good collection of songs that musically
speaking is a mixture of blues, swing, jazz, rockabilly and old time rock and
roll. The set included 8 original songs and 3 covers of songs by blues legends
like WILLIE DIXON, LITTLE WALTER and FATS DOMINO. Doug sings and plays guitar,
while his rhythm section band THE JEWEL TONES consists of drummer ZACK
POMERLEAU and bassist ANDREW GOHMAN. There are also a few guests on this
special night, namely keyboardplayer BILL HEID and saxplayers SAX GORDON and
TERRY HANCK. All together a great live concert that we now all can enjoy, and
basically it is a real must for the fans of old school traditional jazzy blues.
More info can be found at: https://www.dougdeming.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
WICKED 'THE LAST
AMERICAN ROCKBAND' (MAGICK BITE RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Now this is how
classic 80s American Hardrock should sound like! WICKED hail from Rochester,
New York, USA, and they have been conquering the New York area for 10 years
now. The Last American Rockband is their 5th album so far, and I must say it is
quite sensational. The band is formed around bassist Danny Martin,
vocalist/guitarist Chad Michaels, guitarist Scotty Ventura and drummer Gunnar Coston.
Chad is an amazing classic 80s American rock singer and overall the band sounds
amazing, as if we're listening to a major label band around 1989. 8 songs are
on this new CD, and opener American Rock N Roller shows right away that we are
dealing here with a band that sounds definitely like we stepped back in time to
the 80s and we're back in the AUTOGRAPH, KEEL, HEAVEN'S EDGE, DIVING FOR PEARLS
era. New York Tough follows in an even more uptempo twin-guitar dominated
melodic hardrock direction with a superb catchy chorus, and reminding of bands
like FIREHOUSE, SLYBOYZ, KNOW ILLUSION, etc. Despite their looks, lyrics and
album artwork, they are not as Glam/Party Hardrock orientated as you might
expect, because they are definitely not in the POISON/CRUE style, although the
4 guys look like your typical 80s Hair Metal / STEEL PANTHER / WIG WAM posers.
Hooligans is perhaps a bit more Glam/Party/Hair Metal ish a la classic TUFF,
but WICKED clearly has a very professional high qualty sound that takes the
best elements of all that made the 80s the finest and funniest melodic era of
the past. Time Has Come To Rock is quite a heavy rocker, with a slight early
SKID ROW approach, although WIG WAM is also a good comparison.
High Roller
toughen things up in a classic RATT style, while the midtempo Sinner is like FIREHOUSE
on their classic debut album from 1980. Next track Thick As Thieves is another
cool uptempo classic 80s heavy rocker and closing the album is Hot Stage
Lights, a SUPERB uptempo 80s melodic rocker in a sorta DEF LEPPARD meets
FIREHOUSE style. Concluded, this WICKED has got all the ingredients to make it
big, and if they are live on stage as good as on this CD, then we will sure all
have a good time. Hopefully they will make it over to Europe someday soon!
Check them out at: https://www.wickedrocknrollofficial.com/
(Points:
9.1 out of 10)
FARAWAYS 'DECADES OF
DORMANCY' (PARAPLY RECORDS/HEMIFRAN)
FARAWAYS is a
Swedish trio performing a mix of classic rock, psychedelic rock and folkrock,
sounding quite melodic on their new 6-tracks counting album Decades Of
Dormancy. They were formed all the way back in the mid 90s, and recorded
several demos until 2002 bore calling it quits. Covid brought them back
together, and now they come up with 6 great new songs, of which the highlights
are the catchy uptempo Silvertrain Ride (THE DAMNED meets BIG COUNTRY) and the
60s psychedelic garage rock influenced Ruby Ring Of Love, although I also need
to mention the slow THE DOORS inspired Frozen Moon. These guys deliver a great
portion of music here that will appeal to mosly the fans of older classic rock
and early 70s psychedelic rock. More info at: https://faraways.rocks/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
LOVE ON DRUGS 'FLUKE'
(PARAPLY RECORDS/HEMIFRAN)
Do not confuse
LOVE ON DRUGS with the American band THE WAR ON DRUGS, because when listening
to the first song on the new album of the Swedish band LOVE ON DRUGS, the
catchy uptempo Americana melodic powerpop/rocker Through The Dark, it sounds
almost identical to THE WAR ON DRUGS. However, LOVE ON DRUGS comes out of
Sweden, and is mainly concentrated around THOMAS PONTEN (guitars/mandolin/bass/percussion/keys/lead
vocals) and a bunch of Swedish guest musicians. Fluke is the 4th LP, and it contains
10 songs, of which closing track Heaven is a cover of the TALKING HEADS song.
Besides that catchy fantastic opener other highlights are Stranger Danger,
Never Walk Away and the lovely Follow Me Down. The music melts 80s new wave
with new country and a few Americana influences, ending up sounding like a
cross between BEAR'S DEN, THE JAYHAWKS, THE WAR ON DRUGS and NEIL YOUNG if that
makes any sense! Check for yourself, because LOVE ON DRUGS is a really good
band! More info at: https://www.paraplyrecords.se
and https://www.hemifran.com/artist/Love%20On%20Drugs/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
JACOB
MORRIS ‘SLOW FUNERAL’ (STROLLING BONES RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
There are more
musicians by the name of JACOB MORRIS, but this Jacob releases his debut album
on the American label STROLLING BONES RECORDS, and musically speaking he is
entering a sort of alternative calm folk/indie pop/singer/songwriter direction
that sounds a bit dreamy/poetic/atmospheric. It’s actually a mini album that
contains 8 tracks in total, and most of them sound sweet and warm, and so for
the rockers among us there is not much to be found here. Besides writing,
producing, singing and playing guitar on all the songs, he gets help from JOHN
FERNANDES (violin, clarinet), THOMAS VALADEZ (guitar), CULLEN TOOLE (guitar,
keys) and AL DAGLIS (drums), and basically delivers a nice little calm record
here that might appeal to fans of SIMON & GARFUNKEL (have a listen to
Stoney for example). Check for yourself at: https://strollingbonesrecords.com/slow-funeral
(Points:
7.4 out of 10)
BART RYAN
‘MESSENGER’ (INDEPENDENT/JOTHEMA)
Messenger is already
the 6th album of the Nashville, USA based
singer/songwriter/guitarist BART RYAN, an incredible talented musician and
singer who deserves a lot more attention. His music fits somewhere between
singer/songwriter pop/rock and soulful bluesy rock, and especially his
fantastic raw voice makes Bart such a great performer. Besides Bart, the other
musicians are bassist JEFF LEGORE, drummer JIM EVANS and a few backing
vocalists. Bart wrote all the songs, while he also produced all the songs. 10
songs are included, and the highlights are the slow bluesy opener One World,
the rather catchy melodic uptempo rocking Street Corner Angel, and the uptempo
rootsy americana pop/rocker Working On A Dream. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, JACKSON
BROWNE and TOM PETTY come to mind here and there, but Bart has an own style
within his singer/songwriter/rootsy blues americana pop/rocksound due to his
unique raw vocals, and I can therefore easily highly recommend his wonderful
new album Messenger. More info can be found at: www.bartryan.com
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
STEVE
LEON & THE ACCUSATIONS ‘LOUCHE’ OFF LABEL RECORDS/JOTHEMA)
Louche is the debut EP of the Belgian band STEVE LEON & THE ACCUSATIONS, whom create a calmer dark somewhat alternative 80s indie/folk/country kinda mixture that sounds very melodic and original actually, although there are clear influences of bands like THE SMITHS, ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN, GREEN ON RED, yet with a very light country/folk touch as well, so an original melting pot we have here from Antwerp. There are sadly only 5 songs on the album of the band that consists of Steve Leon - vocals, guitar, Mila Francis - vocals, violin, mandolin, guitar, Yannick Hermans – guitar, Kristof Van de Vliet – bass, Bouke Cools - pedal steel, banjo and Tim Martens – drums. Songs like Don’t Let Anyone In and The Restless Kind are absolutely beautiful and I can definitely urge you to check out this interesting new act. More info at:https://steveleonandtheaccusations.bandcamp.com/album/louche
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SRDJAN IVANOVIC 'XENOS' (RUE DES
BALKANS/ABSILONE/SOCADISC/VEEV.COM/FRANCE IMPORT)
A very
interesting adventure, progressive rock riffs with Arabian melodies, kinda like
ALTIN GUN meets PORCUPINE TREE and Balkan jazz influences as well, so this is
unique for sure! Opener the best and the English song Heartbeat is a very
relaxing tune , melodic progrock a bit, while other songs also reflect other
World Music influences, such as the great Ici-la Bas and original cover of Rung
Of Fire JIHNY cash, BEST AT THE BEGGINIHG LATER a bit stabdard
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
SAMUEL ASHTON 'BREATHE
EASY' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Although there
are only 5 songs on the CD of British singer/songwriter/guitarist SAMUEL
ASHTON, we can hear that the music is of an exceptionally high level. Samuel
has a sensational deep old soul tone in his voice (a la RAG'N'BONE MAN), and
his music is a lovely mix of 70s funk, soul and bluesy rock. Besides Samuel on
vocals and guitar, there are a few other musicians joining him. There's also a
certain DE WOLFF, DAPTONE RECORDS and COLEMINE RECORDS kinda vibe on a few of
the songs, such as the wonderful Witch Doctor and during Healer MICHAEL
KIWANUKA comes to mind. Although only 21 minutes of playing time, this CD
definitely shows that Samuel will belong to the absolute best of the best in a
few years time from now. Look out for the Kent based musician, who is a bit
groovier and much more soulful in his voice than other guitarists/singers such
as JOE BONAMASSA, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHARD, LAURENCE JONES, etc. Check out all info
on this amazing musician at: https://samuelashton.bandcamp.com/album/breathe-easy
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
JUDITH PARTS
'MEADOWSWEET' (INDEPENDENT/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Estonia
comes JUDITH PARTS, a multi-instrumentalist abd producer who is now settled in
Copenhagen, Denmark, and Meadowset is her first album. The included music is of
a very high level, although it is very experimental, so perhaps not appealing
to each and everyone out there. Judith has an amazing voice, and her music is
angelic atmospheric electronic pop orientated that reminds me a bit of LAPSLEY.
The material is divided into 6 chapters, and you can really feel the nordic
european vibe in Judith's music. At the moment there are a lot of female
singers creating this kind of music, and Judith goes one step further by adding
some experimental sounds, and I have to say it is a joy to listen to the debut
album of this talented musician. More info at: https://www.judithparts.com/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
STRANGE HORIZON 'SKUR
14' (APOLLON RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
The band
STRANGE HORIZON comes out of Bergen, Norway, and their 2nd album is titled Skur
14, which musically is a mix of doom metal, psychedelic rock, nwobhm and
classic hardrock. BLACK SABBATH is an obvious reference we can make while
listening to their new album, and they are doing it very well on the 4 long
songs we can find on Skur 14. The band consists of Qvillio - Guitar, vocals, Lindesteg
- Electric bass guitar and Daae - drums, and especially the uptempo Candles has
some very strong melodies during both the guitarwork and the rather catchy
chorus. I am also sometimes thinking of SPIDERGAWD while listening to STRANGE
HORIZON, so I guess you will now more or less understand in which direction
this band is moving into. More info can be found at: https://strangehorizon.bandcamp.com/album/skur-14
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
CINELLI BROTHERS ‘VARIOUS ALBUMS’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
THE CINELLI BROTHERS
are a band from London, UK, and after witnessing them live at the Jazz Festival
in Breda, The Netherlands, I was overwhelmed by this sensational band, because
they sounded really amazing and very authentic. The band plays classic
British/Chicago Blues Rock in the late 1960s style of PAUL/THE BUTTERFIELD BLUES
BAND, CANNED HEAT, very early PETER GREEN’s FLEETWOOD MAC, TEN YEARS AFTER,
ERIC CLAPTON’s blues of the early days, etc. etc., yet with also a lot of soul
and other 50s/60s influences. The band’s line up consists of the brothers Marco
(guitar, keys, vocals) and Alessandro Cinelli (drums, B/V’s), and they are
joined by Tom Julian-Jones (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and Stephen Giry (bass,
guitar, B/V’s). So far 3 albums have been released, Babe Please Set Your Alarm
(2018), Villa Juke Joint (2021) and No Country For Bluesmen (2022), which
features guests on every track, including legends like DANA GILLESPIE, IAN
SIEGAL, BIG JOE LOUIS and many up and coming stars of the British blues scene.
The band was kind enough to send me their 3 albums, and I am glad they did,
because everything they have done is sensational from start to finish, and the
cartoon cover artwork of their records is a joy to look at while listening to
their fantastic music.
Their debut Babe
Please Set Your Alarm contains 12 songs, of which 3 are covers (including
PRINCE’s Kiss!), and this CD is a winner right from the start with classics
such as Babe Please Set Your Alarm, Don’t Hold Back And Love Me, Back Door Man,
One More Minute Over Me (superb soulful vocalwork!) and the uptempo She Done Gone
Away, all capturing that true classic late 60s British Blues Rocksound, with
also a touch of Chicago Blues and even a bit of 60s R&B/Soul. These guys
are reaching an extremely high level, sometimes even reminding me of a calmer
DE WOLFF crossed with the aforementioned acts, and especially the soulful
vocalwork is making them a perfect sounding original band!
The follow-up album
Villa Juke Joint continues the sound of the 2018 album, and this time the
highlights are the rocking opener Choo Ma Gum, Dry Smell, Married Woman and
Whole Whistle. They rock a bit more and are less blues orientated than on their
debut, sounding here and there a bit like VINTAGE TROUBLE. Their latest album
is No Country For Bluesmen, which features as mentioned a list of guest blues
musicians, and this might be their best album so far because it is also their
most diverse, which is perhaps due to the use of various guest singers and
musicians. The CD has many highlights, including the superb opening uptempo
rocker Make You Mine, the soulful High Time We Run, the soulful semi/blues
ballad Deep Down Devil (featuring ALICE ARMSTRONG), Dish It Out, Leave It All
Behind and the funky groovy Careful What You Wish For. Without a doubt, this is
one of the finest heavy blues/soul records of the past few years, and it is a
must-have if you like the old school blues of the aforementioned acts, but also
if you like for example the new wave of Dutch soul/blues/rock like KING OF THE
WORLD, SVEN HAMMOND SOUL and DE WOLFF.
Catch them live when
you can, and get their records a.s.a.p., because THE CINELLI BROTHERS are
definitely one of the best Blues rockbands to emerge from the UK at the moment!
More info can be found at: http://www.cinellibrothers.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
DEDE
BOOTH ‘PARALLELS’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
DEDE BOOTH is a
Boston, USA based musician who is a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter
who started in the band SENTENIA, a progressive goth rockband that released a
few albums, but eventually Dede went solo and now she releases her new album
Parallels, a progressive/symphonic rock orientated record on which she does
almost everything on her own. It’s a bit experimental here and there, while the
drums seem to come out of a drum computer (correct me if I’m wrong), Vocally
not as strong as for example the mentioned comparisons in her bio (PORCUPINE
TREE, RIVERSIDE, THE COCTEAU TWINS), Dede does still a nice job by doing
everything by herself, because instrumental and composition wise she delivers a
nice concept album with Parallels. It consists of 5 acts that are quite lengthy
and offer enough to keep the progrockfan entertained. Check for yourself more
info at: https://www.instagram.com/dedeboothmusic/
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SAY
ZUZU ‘NO TIME TO LOSE’ (STROLLING BONES RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
SAY ZUZU is an
Americana/Alt-Country/Rock band from New Hampshire, USA, and No Time To Lose is
their comeback album, because for over 20 years they were out of the picture.
The band was originally formed in the early 1990s, managed to release several
albums in the following 10 years, got close to signing a record deal, but
eventually never got signed to a bigger label until recently during the
pandemic when STROLLING BONES RECORDS released a compilation album of the band,
and eventually this led to a reformation and a new album in the shape of No
Time To Lose. The band consists of Cliff Murphy (vocals, guitar, banjo,
harmonica), Jon Nolan (vocals, lap steel guitar, piano, keyboards), James Nolan
(bass), Steve Ruhm (drums, mandoline), Tim Nylander (drums, keyboards) and Jon
Pistey (guitar, bass), and they sound very fresh on this exciting new album.
Musically speaking their rootsy alternative country rock is not far removed
from THE JAYHAWKS, CALEXICO, THE POSIES, NEIL YOUNG, TOM PETTY, THE EAGLES and
even a bit THE HOOTERS, just mix them all up together, and then you have the
SAY ZUZU sound. A pandemic made sure the band started up again after splitting
up in 2001, and as already mentioned this new album is a great return that
features many highlights, such as the wonderful opener Waking Up (pure TOM
PETTYish Heartland rocker), the calmer VENICE ish Big Horizon, the beautiful
melodic rockers Look Whatcha Done and Old Soldier. Welcome back guys with your
combination of beautiful melodies, strong vocals and summer-breeze sound! More
info can be found at: https://sayzuzu.bandcamp.com/album/no-time-to-lose
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
CHICKASAW
MUDD PUPPIES ‘FALL LINE’ (STROLLING BONES RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Out of Athens,
Georgia, USA comes CHICKASAW MUDD PUPPIES, a band that was formed back in the
late 80s/early 90s. They managed to have a short fifteen minutes of fame 30
years ago when they released 2 albums that were even produced by MICHAEL STIPE
(REM) and WILLIE DIXON. After splitting up during the 90s, the band reformed
about 10 years ago, and Fall Line is their new album. The band consists of
Brant Slay (Harp/Vocals), Ben Reynolds (Guitar/Vocals) and Alan Cowart (Drums),
and their music is an interesting mixture of classic foot-stomping desert blues
rock from out of the swamp in the heat of the midwestern USA and a bit of
alternative rock / NEIL YOUNG / R.E.M. melted straight through here and there.
The result is an interesting album that when going for that dirty mean slow
groovy bluesy rocksound, CHIICKASAW MUDD PUPPIES sounds at their best, such as
during the fantastic Roadkill, Navigate and Florida, which even recall late 60s
British/Chicago Blues Rock of the CANNED HEAT / JON SPENCER EXPLOSION / THE
BUTTERFIELD BAND kind. However, there is also some clear alternative country
rock influences to be heard as well, such as the uptempo Flatcar, Smokestack
Monkey, Little Man and several times during other songs that also show their
love for R.E.M. and NEIL YOUNG. A mixture of 2 worlds is what this is all
about, and therefore definitely recommended to check out at: https://chickasawmuddpuppies.bandcamp.com/album/fall-line-2
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
JACOB
MORRIS ‘SLOW FUNERAL’ (STROLLING BONES RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
There are more
musicians by the name of JACOB MORRIS, but this Jacob releases his debut album
on the American label STROLLING BONES RECORDS, and musically speaking he is
entering a sort of alternative calm folk/indie pop/singer/songwriter direction
that sounds a bit dreamy/poetic/atmospheric. It’s actually a mini album that
contains 8 tracks in total, and most of them sound sweet and warm, and so for
the rockers among us there is not much to be found here. Besides writing,
producing, singing and playing guitar on all the songs, he gets help from JOHN
FERNANDES (violin, clarinet), THOMAS VALADEZ (guitar), CULLEN TOOLE (guitar,
keys) and AL DAGLIS (drums), and basically delivers a nice little calm record
here that might appeal to fans of SIMON & GARFUNKEL (have a listen to
Stoney for example). Check for yourself at: https://strollingbonesrecords.com/slow-funeral
(Points:
7.4 out of 10)
SCREAMIN' DEMONS 'THE
NEW ERA' (PURE STEEL RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
The Italian
band SCREAMIN' DEMONS is a new band formed around 3 ex-members of the legendary
Metal band DEATH SS. Formed in 2021, they now release their debut album The New
Era. Their line up consists of Alessio Spini (ex-THUNDER RISING) - vocals, Al
Priest (ex-DEATH SS, ex-HYDRA) - guitar, Luca Ballabio (ex- F.E.A.S.T.,
ex-MORTADO) - guitar, Andy Barrington (ex-DEATH SS, ex-V.M.18) – bass, vocals
and Ross Lukather (ex-DEATH SS, ex-ATHENA, ex-LABIRINTH, ex-SHINING FURY) -
drums, Production is of a very high level, the musicianship is perfect
(incredible guitarsound!), vocally it sounds really sensational (Alessio is a
real Metal God like SOTO meets HALFORD!) and basically the songwriting is also
interesting and diverse, and from the 10 songs that are included the highlights
are the Power Metal piece Warrior, the lovely classic Melodic Metal tune
Enlight and the proggy catchy chorus driven Night Song (a la SAVATAGE), but
from start to finish this sounds superb! I feel a sorta mix between MAIDEN,
SAVATAGE, PRIEST and MYSTIC PROPHECY while listening, so this is definitely one
of the better massive sounding Melodic Metal releases at the moment, and you
can check them out for yourself at: www.facebook.com/screamin.demons.band
Without a doubt a must-have!
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
MINDLESS SINNER
'KEEPING IT TRUE' (PURE STEEL RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
The legendary
Swedish Metal band performed a concert at the Keep It True festival back in
April 2015, and now this has been released on CD / Vinyl. They were mainly
active during the 1980s, had a long pause until reuniting in 2014, and this
concert saw them back in action after almost 20 years of inactivity, and since
the performance the band has also released new albums. I believe they have
always kept the same line-up, so it was a sorta piece of cake to perform at a
very high level live on stage, and when listening to this CD you can also
clearly hear that. Classic melodic metal with a strong IRON MAIDEN / JUDAS
PRIEST kinda vibe, which worked really well among the audience of the festival,
and now available on CD and Vinyl. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/mindlesssinnerofficial/
(Points:
7.3 out of 10)
FAIRYTALE 'ARMY OF
GHOSTS' (PURE STEEL RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
FAIRYTALE is a
German band that was founded back in 2000 by guitarist Colin Büttner, who
wanted to recreate the classic 80s melodic metalsound of IRON MAIDEN. Along with
bassist Hendrik Klahold, guitarist Stefan Absorber, drummer Fabius Karkas and
vocalist Carsten Hille, they recorded several albums the past 23 years, and I
believe Army Of Ghosts is their 3rd album so far. Throughout the years they
managed to develop their own style that is however mostly in the pure Classic
Melodic Metal style. The band performs at a high level, and the highlights
among the 10 included songs are Army Of Ghosts, Voices From Inside, Alive and
Morningside. SCREAMIN’ DEMONS is a recommended band if you like your Metal to
sound melodic and traditional, sorta PRIMAL FEAR / PRIEST / SINNER / MAIDEN
orientated. More info can be found at: https://puresteelrecords.bandcamp.com/album/army-of-ghosts
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
MORTICIAN '40 YEARS OF
METAL' (PURE STEEL RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
Actually I had
never heard of MORTICIAN before, but apparently they have been around for 40
years now. Not that strange, because there aren't that many memorable Austrian
Metalbands out there, not now and not in the past, so here we have an exception
to that rule. I am glad that PURE STEEL RECORDS picked them up, because this
best of album shows they are a very good Metal band in the classic JUDAS PRIEST
/ ACCEPT style of the 80s traditional Metal. The lyrics are as cliché metal
orientated as you can get, such as Leather And Wheels and 40 Years Of Metal,
but somehow the band has that classic 80s Teutonic Metal sound of bands like
VETO, GRAVESTONE, NOISEHUNTER, and all those legendary SCRATCH RECORDS releases
from 35-40 years ago. Production is very good and fans of any of the mentioned
bands will love this MORTICIAN. More at: https://www.facebook.com/MORTICIAN.Austria/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
ERIC JOHANSON 'THE
DEEP AND THE DIRTY' (RUF RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
The American guitarist/singer/songwriter
ERIC JOHANSON developed an own style throughout the years, which takes elements
from blues, hardrock, country, soul, americana and countless other music
styles, so especially during his last couple of albums there is a lot of
diversity to be heard. On his new album The Deep And The Dirty he is joined by
drummer TERENCE HIGGINS (Ani DiFranco / Warren Haynes / Tab Benoit) and bassist
ERIC VOGEL (Big Sam’s Funky Nation / Fred Wesley), while producer JESSE DAYTON
(SUPERSUCKERS, ROB ZOMBIE) also does some shaker & Tamborine along with
PATRICK HERZFIELD. I absolutely loved his previous album, so I was looking
forward to his long awaited new album, and now here it is. 12 new songs, of
which the highlights are opener Don't Hold Back, the soulful groovy tunes The
Deep And The Dirty and Stepping Stone, the uptempo Undertow, the slowtempo
semi-ballad Elysian Fields, the amazing slowtempo Familiar Sound and the
uptempo rocking Galaxy Girl. Eric has a clear own style, his guitarplaying is
phenomenal and his vocals are soulful and spot-on. I think if you like for
example JOE BONAMASSA, WALTER TROUT, LAURENCE JONES and such, then you will
definitely like this album as well! This is definitely one of the finest albums
released this year, so go check it out a.s.a.p. at: https://ericjohanson.bandcamp.com/album/the-deep-and-the-dirty
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
DAWNATION 'WELL FOR
THE PAST' (BILDWERK/GEMA/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of
Neubrandenburg, Germany comes DAWNATION, a band whom I reviewed a few years
ago. Formed around Jan Mecklenburg – Lead Vocals, Percussion, Damian Krebs –
Drums, Robert Reich – Bass, Christoph Piel – Guitars, Vocals and Bert Wenndorff
– Keyboards, Vocals, the band is playing a healthy fresh catchy progressive
melodic rockstyle that combines strong catchy hooks and melodic choruses with
well-thought instrumental progrock breaks, so they truly built a bridge between
progressive rock and AOR/Melodic Rock. Opener Holes is an instant winner,
because here we have a melodic rock song packed inside a progrock setting,
catchy enough for the melodic rockfans, but still proggy enough for the
progfans. There are some similarities to Dutch progbands like FOR ABSENT
FRIENDS and RICOCHER and perhaps also ARENA, EVERON or PALLAS should be
mentioned here, yet DAWNATION has an own identity for sure. The production is
very good, instrumental it all sounds quite perfect and Jan has a very strong
voice, while the songs are all very nice to listen to. One of the absolute
highlights is the beautiful semi-ballad Worthless, but the whole album is a
pleasure to hear and both prog and melodic rockfans will like this! One of the
biggest surprises is the epic Deception that has an exciting uptempo, almost
NWOBHM ish part, although the song itself is a great progrocker, and the same
actually goes for the uptempo rocker Time (which also has some URIAH HEEP
similarities). Anyway, there is a lot to enjoy here and it’s all done at a very
high level! More info can be found at: https://dawnation.bandcamp.com/album/well-for-the-past
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
HOTWIRE ‘THE STORY SO FAR 1993-2023’
(YELLOW MUFFIN RECORDS/SPV/GERMAN IMPORT)
30 years ago there was an explosion of new
German Melodic Hardrockbands, which was mainly due to the now defunct LONG
ISLAND RECORDS label that brought us all these new releases of bands like JADED
HEART, FRONTLINE, STEEL DAWN, CRIME, STATEMENT, JADED HEART, MASON, MALLET,
WILD FRONTIER, etc. etc. HOTWIRE was also one of those bands that released in
1995 their first full-length album, and I was happy to review it back then as
well, so upon receiving this new album of them now is a trip down memory lane
for me personally, because I had just started my own fanzine/magazine around
1995, and suddenly all these great new bands appeared on my desk! Of course the
foundation of German Melodic Hardrock was created in the late 1970s and 1980s
when bands like SCORPIONS, BONFIRE, CRAAFT, VICTORY, MAD MAX and countless
others ruled the German hardrocking airwaves and this continued throughout the
1990s for a while. In Japan there was a lot of interest for this typical sound,
but eventually towards the end of the 1990s it more or less died and only in
the underground a few bands continued. However, apparently in 2023 HOTWIRE is
still alive and active, because there is a new CD that contains the best songs
of the band from the past 30 years, and it even starts with a complete new
song, the uptempo melodic rocker Slam, which is a really good song! Their
current line-up consists of MICHAEL WERNER (vocals), TOM GLAS (drums),
ALEXANDER SCHOTT (bass), HANS HEID (guitar) and DANIEL GUMO REISS (guitar), and
this best of CD picks some of their best songs of the past 30 years, such as
the catchy melodic rockers Crying In The Night, Midnight Romeo, Talk To Me,
Danger Is Calling and Alone. Nice to catchy up with HOTWIRE again after all
these years! More info at: www.hotwiregang.de
(Points: 8.2 out of
10)
| CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEW REVIEWS |
| GO TO THE REVIEWSINDEXPAGE |
| BACK TO HOMEPAGE |